Salah Abdeslam’s lawyer, Sven Mary, revealed on Wednesday that a new lawyer will be appointed to Salah Abdeslam. “It is Mr Berton who will take over the file, and a further lawyer will be assigned in the coming days”, states Sven Mary. He adds that he will be available to share information with his French counterparts. “I would like to work with Frank Berton.”
Sven Mary said that he had accepted to defend Salah Abdeslam because he believes “that right for judicial defense is important in a society governed by respect of the law. Otherwise we act like over there, where lawyers do not exist”.
He does not wish to comment on an article that was attributed to him in the French “Liberation” newspaper. It states that Sven Mary called Salah Abdeslam “that little dumbass from Molenbeek who was dealing with petty crime and that "he was rather a follower than a leader”." He likened Salah’s “intelligence to an empty ashtray” with an “abysmal emptiness”. He also confirmed that he didn’t think of stopping to defend Salah Abdeslam after the Brussels attacks.
At the moment, Salah Abdeslam is under arrest for his involvement in the Paris attacks and not for any potential links to the Brussels attacks at this stage. He is also charged for the shootout that broke out when he was arrested where several policemen were injured.
(Source: Belga)
